Marked for Yegor Kortsov
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market12 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match10 Apr 2027
Nobody wants to play Dinamo Brest right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Market12 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dinamo Brest is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Brest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Dinamo Brest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guljigit Borubaev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match10 Apr 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Maxim Maximov. 1‑0 against Isloch, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Maximov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A mark of 7.68, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
In brief
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Squad
Pavel Meleshin has had enough of the bench
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Market
Yegor Kortsov is free to find somewhere else
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Two goals and a mark of 7.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match27 Mar 2027
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Pavel Meleshin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match27 Mar 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yegor Kortsov. 2‑0 against Neman, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Yegor Kortsov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Dinamo Brest people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Brest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match15 Feb 2027
Dinamo Brest refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 17 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market15 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Dinamo Brest, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Brest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Dinamo Brest asked and Gornik Zabrze said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Denis Grechikho falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Dinamo Brest have made the call to Dinamo Moscow. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Dinamo Bucharest have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match18 Jan 2027
Dinamo Brest are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 17 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Brest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Dinamo Brest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guljigit Borubaev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Pavlovets trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market18 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Kortsov signs something — a contract at Dinamo Brest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Jan 2027
Pavel Meleshin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Guljigit Borubaev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad4 Jan 2027
5 new faces, and Dinamo Brest are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Konstantin Veretynskiy, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Gustavo Mancha knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gustavo Mancha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Dec 2026
17 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad21 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Brest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Vladislav Lozhkin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Ivan Zenkov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Zenkov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Dinamo Brest will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Nov 2026
Dinamo Brest are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 17 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Nikita Stepanov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Pavlovets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Gustavo Mancha asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes Artem Zaychuk a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Dinamo Brest. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market23 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Brest know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The penny has dropped for Max Dziov
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Dinamo Brest the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Alexandr Fisyuk is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Gustavo Mancha: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Brest have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Pavel Meleshin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Dinamo Brest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guljigit Borubaev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Brest, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Dinamo Brest would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
Squad16 Nov 2026
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Dinamo Brest lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Pavel Meleshin: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Brest have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Pavel Meleshin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Alexandr Pavlovets falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Dinamo Brest will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
Pavel Meleshin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
14 new faces, and Dinamo Brest are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Dinamo Brest will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Dinamo Brest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Lozhkin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Brest, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dinamo Brest lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Nikita Stepanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Dinamo Brest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guljigit Borubaev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yegor Kortsov and Dinamo Brest agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Sep 2026
5‑1, and Pavel Meleshin took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Dinamo Brest tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The match ball belongs to Pavel Meleshin, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Dinamo Brest — 7.47
1 for Nikita Burak, marked 7.47, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Market7 Sep 2026
Yegor Kortsov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dinamo Brest they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Dinamo Brest had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Atromitos, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Dinamo Brest have gone to Vitebsk with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Yegor Kortsov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Pavel Meleshin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match5 Sep 2026
Pavel Meleshin among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Pavel Meleshin on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Dinamo Brest and Neman.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with HNK Rijeka, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maxim Belov and Dinamo Brest agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to Neman this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Nikita Stepanov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Zagreb have kept their man, and Dinamo Brest go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vadzim Skavysh has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.